Leisure Suit Larry Creator Leaves Publisher Amidst Scandal

After successfully Kickstarting a remastered version of the PC cult classic Leisure Suit Larry, the game's creator Al Lowe is leaving publisher Replay Games after learning of a troubling sex scandal within the company's hierarchy.

According to Kotaku, Lowe attributed some of the reasoning behind his departure to Replay Games CEO Paul Trowe pleading guilty to showing an explicit video to a minor. Trowe claimed he sent the video without knowing the recipient's age, but will get two years probation and will attend sex offender counseling as a result. Trowe had been in trouble with the law before, according to records obtained by Polygon. In 2007, he plead guilty to felony possession of a controlled substance, which earned him 10 years probation.

"There were many reasons for my departure, including that [2012] incident," Lowe told Kotaku in an interview. "As far as I know, Replay Games still has the rights (from Codemasters, owners of the I.P.) to do Leisure Suit Larry games, but they'll have to do them without me."

While a comments from Replay Games concerning Lowe's departure made the split seem amicable, the truth is much less positive. Originally, Venture Beat posted comments supposedly from Lowe provided by the publisher regarding his reasons for leaving. However, Lowe provided his own actual statement after seeing the story. “My agreement with Replay Games was for a two-year period, which recently ended," Lowe said. "Due to numerous reasons, I have decided not to renew our agreement and to return to retirement.” Venture Beat has since stricken the original quotes.

Whatever happens next for the Leisure Suit Larry franchise, it'll happen without its original creator. Given the lack of success the re-release actually had, that probably won't be much of an issue.